2012 HOT ROD DRAG WEEK™ OFFICIAL RULES
THE BASICS
•The event is open to four-wheel vehicles of any year, make, or model.
Motorcycle-based vehicles are not allowed.
•Current license, registration, and proof of insurance are required. No dealer plates allowed. No rental cars allowed.
•Vehicles in competition must have functional headlights, taillights, brake lights, turn signals, horn, and a rearview mirror. Headlights must be of OE-type design.
•All vehicles must meet NHRA safety rules for the e.t. and speed they are capable of, and drivers must be IHRA or NHRA licensed if required. Drag Week™ officials will not accept timeslips that are quicker or faster than the car’s tech’d legal e.t. and mph. Running quicker than the safety equipment allows is cause for disqualification at the discretion of the race director.
•Vehicles with rule variations may be classified at the race director’s discretion.
•Any type of fuel may be used.
•Equipment rules apply to both the street and track portions of the event.
•Any participant found under the influence of alcohol or narcotics is subject to immediate disqualification and removal from the event. Likewise, unsportsmanlike conduct may result in disqualification or removal.
NO TRAILERS,NO SUPPORT VEHICLES
•Vehicles in competition may not be led or followed at any distance by support vehicles of any kind. A support vehicle is one used to supply, or with the intent of supplying, anyrescue efforts or to carry anything for a competitor, including luggage, tools, fuel, repair parts or spares, and helpers or crew. Support vehicles towing just-in-case trailers are not allowed. Motorhomes are not allowed.
•All vehicles must be driven under their own power during the entire Drag Week™ competition and may not be towed, trailered, pushed, or hauled at any time. The exception is the event of an emergency in which a vehicle needs to beremoved from the roadway or other dangeroussituation, in which case assistance may be used tomove the car a short distance to a safe area,for example, to the next highway exit.
•A Drag Week™ phone number will besupplied to participants. If an entrant wishesto forfeit the competition by loading thevehicle on a trailer or otherwise enlistingan illegal support vehicle, the number mustbe called to immediately notify the staff ofthe forfeiture.
•Each competition vehicle may tow a singletrailer up to 12feet long from ball to tail and6 feet high from ground to top, including theheight of anything carried on top of thetrailer. Alternately, a U-Haul 4x8-foot boxtrailer may be used. Trailers may not containany components that contribute to cooling,charging, oiling, or fueling the competitionvehicle while the trailer is being towed.
WORKING ONCOMPETITION VEHICLES
•Drag Week™ competitors may borrow orbuy parts, tools, and supplies from each otherand may help each other with manpower.However, vehicles entered with the obviousintent of supporting another competitor withparts, tools, supplies, or manpower subjectboth entries to disqualification at the racedirector’s discretion. It is not our intent tokeep friends from helping friends but to prevententries from acting as support vehiclesfor other competitors.
•Helpers may not lead or follow in separatevehicles.
•Drag Week™ officials may, without notice, require competitors to set up their pit spot in an impound area for observation during track days. In impound, no one but the driver and passenger may work on the car without permission from Drag Week™ officials. In impound, no parts, tools, or supplies that were not carried in the car or the car’s trailer may be used without permission from Drag Week™ officials. At least one Drag Week™ competitor will be placed in impound during each track day. Some competitors may be impounded multiple days.
•Ordering parts and having them deliveredduring Drag Week™ to fix unforeseen problemsis allowed.
•Swapping engines so that one is used for thedragstrip and another for the on-road drivesis not allowed. One long-block is to be usedfor the entire competition, barring the needfor impromptu repairs.
THE ROUTE,THE CHECKPOINTS
•The on-road drive is part of the Drag Week™competition; following the specified route ismandatory. Traffic, potholes, and windingroads should be expected.
•Each day’s drive has at least one mandatorycheckpoint. Each entrant is required to carrya digital camera that must be used to photographthe car at each checkpoint. Each competitor’scamera will be checked each day toverify that participants have passed through all the required checkpoints.
•Host hotels will be posted on HOTROD.com. Competitors are not required to stay athost hotels and may stop anywhere they wishalong the way as long as the entire route isfollowed.
RACE PROCEDURES
•Competitors are required to sign in and getin the tech inspection line at Tulsa Raceway Parkbefore2 p.m. Central time on September 9. This is a firm cutoff time. Tech inspection and registration will open at 8 a.m. on Sunday, September 9.
•Tulsa Raceway Park will open its gatesaround 8 a.m. on Monday, September 10. There willbe a mandatory driver/passenger meetingheld before racing begins. Drag Week™ competition beginsat the close of the meeting.
•Tulsa Raceway Park has a space wheretrucks and trailers may be left behind duringDrag Week™ competition. Competitors mustsecure their trucks and trailers there beforethe start of the drivers’ meeting on September10. Access to the area will not be availableuntil after the close of Drag Week™ racing onSeptember 14, with the exception of racerswho have forfeited the competition and needto pick up their rigs during working hours.
•Competitors may be tech’d at each dragstripbefore running. All drivers must be present.
•The tracks will be open from roughly 9 a.m.to 12:30 p.m. on Monday through Thursday andfrom 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Tulsa Raceway Park on Friday, September 14.Schedule adjustments may be madepending unforeseen circumstances.
•Competitors will be allowed to make asmany passes as possible each day on a first-come,first-served basis until the race directorannounces that the staging lanes areclosed.
•Every competitor must complete each trackday within the specified times to remain incompetition. To complete a track day, a competitor’s carmust stage under its own power and take the green light.Entries that take the green but are unable tocomplete a full dragstrip pass will be given ane.t. of 20 seconds for the day. If a competitormisses a track day and is out of the running,he may be able to make exhibition runsduring the remaining days ofDrag Week™if time allows.
•It is the competitors’ responsibility to handin their timeslips to the specified DragWeek™ staffer each day before leaving thetrack. Once a slip is handed in, no othertimeslip will be honored that day.
•Route maps to the next city will be providedonly once a competitor has handed in hisor her timeslip.
•No competitor may depart the track for thenext city until 1 p.m. each day. Competitorsmay leave the track and return, but all carsmust be at the track at 1 p.m. to be checkedout as the caravan of cars departs. Racerswho need to remain at the track after 1 p.m.will also be checked out. Listen for announcements, as the 1p.m. departure time may vary depending on conditions.
•In the event that a day of racing is rainedout, competitors are still required to drive theentire route and must check in at the dragstripduring the specified hours.
•Protesting another racer requires filling outan official protest form detailing the ruleinfraction, submitting a $100 fee, and supplyingevidence, including photos or video. Ifthe protest is upheld or negated by forfeiture,the $100 is returned. If it is not upheld, the$100 goes to the racer being protested.
•Each entry may only compete in one class.You must state your intended class when registering,and class changes are not allowedafter the first day of racing.
•For classes other than Daily Driver, the winneris the car with the lowest average e.t. overthe week; average mph is used as a tiebreaker.
UNLIMITED CATEGORY
Unlimited is Drag Week’s™ most radical class and has no restrictions on modifications.
CLASSES
•Engines of all displacements and with or without power-adders all run one class.
PRO STREET CATEGORY
Pro Street is for traditional, back-halved, big-tire cars with a non-stock rear suspension configuration.
BODY
•Must use an all-steel, OE body shell and doors. OE Corvette bodies are allowed.
•Firewall must be in the stock location. Firewall may be smoothed and notched for distributor and valve-cover clearance.
•Must have stock floorpans between the firewall and the forward edge of the wheel tubs.
•Body must maintain the OE profile (no top chopping, and so on). Hoodscoops and deck spoilers are allowed.
•Any composite windows must appear stock and use stock moldings. No window supports visible from outside the car.
•One-piece front clips are prohibited.
INTERIOR
•May not have driver setback past the stock location.
CHASSIS
•Must use stock framerails forward of the firewall, with two exceptions: 1) Aftermarket front-clip kits that replace the stock framerails forward of the firewall are allowed, but they must be commonly available from a recognized manufacturer and must be designed to bolt in place on the stock frame or unibody; and 2) In some cases, fabricated rectangular-tube framerails may be allowed at the race director’s discretion; email detailed photos to for pre-event verification.
•Engine may not be set back past the stock firewall location.
REAR SUSPENSION
•The rear suspension must use a non-stock parallel four-link, ladder bars, a conversion from IRS to solid axle, or other significant departure from the stock suspension concept. Exception: Cars that were originally equipped with leaf springs may retain them if they are moved radically inboard to fit extra-wide, traditional Pro Street–style tires.
TIRES
•Pro Street cars must use tires on the dragstrip that are greater than 11.25 inches wide at the tread, as measured installed and on the ground with a go/no-go gauge. DOT drag radials may not be used.
CLASSES
•There are two classes within Pro Street: Power Adder and Naturally Aspirated.
MODIFIED CATEGORY
Modified is for stock-frame, small-tire cars with a non-stock rear suspension configuration.
BODY
•Must use an all-steel, OE body shell and doors. OE Corvette bodies are allowed.
•Firewall must be in the stock location. Firewall may be smoothed and notched for distributor and valve-cover clearance.
•Must have stock floorpans between the firewall and the forward edge of the wheel tubs.
•Body must maintain the OE profile (no top chopping, and so on). Hoodscoops and deck spoilers are allowed.
•Any composite windows must appear stock and use stock moldings. No window supports visible from outside the car.
•One-piece front clips are prohibited.
INTERIOR
•May not have driver set back past the stock location.
CHASSIS
•Must use stock framerails forward of the firewall, with two exceptions: 1) Aftermarket front-clip kits that replace the stock framerails forward of the firewall are allowed, but they must be commonly available from a recognized manufacturer and must be designed to bolt in place on the stock frame or unibody; and 2) In some cases, fabricated rectangular-tube framerails may be allowed at the race director’s discretion; email detailed photos to for pre-event verification.
•Engine may not be set back past the stock firewall location.
REAR SUSPENSION
•The rear suspension must use a non-stock parallel four-link, ladder bars, a conversion from IRS to solid axle, or other significant departure from the stock suspension concept.
TIRES
•Modified cars must use tires on the dragstrip that are no greater than 11.25 inches wide at the tread, as measured installed and on the ground with a go/no-go gauge.Tire edges may not be shaved or cut to meet the 11.25-inch maximum. Drag radials with a metric width labeling of no greater than 325 mm may be used if the tread width is no greater than 11.5 inches.
CLASSES
•There are two classes within Modified: Power Adder and Naturally Aspirated.
SUPER STREET CATEGORY
Super Street is for small-tire cars with bolt-on–style rear suspensions; this class has fewer restrictions than Street Race. Vehicles in Super Street must have modifications that prevent them from running in Street Race.
BODY
•Must use an all-steel, OE body shell and doors. OE Corvette bodies are allowed.
•Firewall must be in the stock location. Firewall may be smoothed and notched for distributor and valve- cover clearance.
•Must have stock floorpans between the firewall and the forward edge of the wheel tubs.
•Body must maintain the OE profile (no top chopping, and so on) but may use hoodscoops. Deck spoilers are also allowed.
•Any composite windows must appear stock and use stock moldings. No window supports visible from outside the car.
INTERIOR
•Must have driver and passenger seats.
•Must use the stock dash structure.
•May not have driver setback past the stock location.
CHASSIS
•Must use stock framerails forward of the firewall. Aftermarket front-clip kits that replace the stock framerails forward of the firewall are allowed, but they must be commonly available from a recognized manufacturer and must be designed to bolt in place on the stock frame or unibody.
•Engine may not be set back past the stock firewall location.
REAR SUSPENSION
•The rear suspension may use aftermarket components, but they must be commonly available from a recognized manufacturer, and they must bolt in place on the stock frame in the original pickup points. Minor welding as instructed by the parts manufacturer is allowed. Variances may be allowed for homebuilt components if they are deemed by the race director to meet the spirit of the rules; email detailed photos to for pre-event verification.
•Bolt-in or weld-in parallel four-links, ladder bars, non-stock watts links, non-stock wishbones, and non-stock track locators are prohibited.
•Panhard bars may only be used on cars factory-equipped with Panhard bars and must be located in the stock brackets.
•The rear suspension must retain the stock concept: OE leaf-spring cars must use leaf springs, OE triangulated four-link cars must use triangulated four-links, OE torque-arm cars must use torque arms, and so on.
•Cars factory-equipped with coil springs may use coilover conversions.
•Relocated shock and coilover mounting points are allowed, and the mounts may be custom fabricated.
•Typical mini-tub techniques, such as relocating leaf springs inboard, are allowed.
•Weld-in rear sway-bar kits are allowed.
•IRS-to-solid-axle conversions are not allowed. Exception: Mustang Cobras that came stock with IRS may use solid axles if stock Mustang triangulated-four-link suspension is used.
TIRES
•Street Race cars must use tires on the dragstrip that are no greater than 11.25 inches wide at the tread, as measured installed and on the ground with a go/no-go gauge. Tire edges may not be shaved or cut to meet the 11.25-inch maximum. Drag radials with a metric width labeling of no greater than 325mm may be used if the tread width is no greater than 11.5 inches.
DRIVETRAIN
•Lenco-type transmission prohibited
CLASSES
•There are three Super Street classes based on engine displacement and induction: Small-Block Naturally Aspirated, Big-Block Naturally Aspirated, and Power-Adder. Naturally Aspirated classes may not use power-adders of any kind. Power-Adder classes may use nitrous, superchargers, turbochargers, propane injection, or any combination thereof. Small-Block classes are 430ci and below. Big-Block classes are 431ci and above, including Mopar Hemis, big-block Chevys, big-block Fords, or FE Fords of any displacement. Winners’ engines may be pumped to verify displacement. The Modified Power Adder class is for engines of all displacements.
STREET RACE CATEGORY
Street Race is for cars with OE bodies and frames using bolt-on performance partsand is Drag Week’s™ most restricted class. Cars in this class may not run an e.t. quicker than 8.50. IMPORTANT: Street Race competitors posting an e.t. quicker than 8.50 at any time are subject to disqualification or reclassification to the Super Street category.
BODY
•Must use an all-steel OE body including doors, fenders, and trunk lid or hatch. Only the hood and bumpers may be aftermarket fiberglass or carbon fiber. OE Corvette bodies are allowed.
•Firewall must be in the stock location. Firewall may be smoothed and notched for distributor and valve-cover clearance.
•Must use stock steel floors from the firewall to the rear bumper. Spare-tire wells may be cut out and filled.
•Widened or fabricated wheel tubs are allowed.
•Firewall must be in the stock location. Firewall may be smoothed and notched for distributor and valve-cover clearance.